Posts Tagged ‘
clogged tear duct ’

Am happy to report all went textbook smoothly this morning at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Emmett is now home with some swelling around his eye and some blue dye still draining. But his tear duct is now open. I don’t have to obsessively clean his eye 11 times a day. He is probably more thrilled than I.

When I first got there at the brutal hour of 5:45 a.m., I spoke with the anesthesiologist. He explained that first they give babies an oral sedative, so they don’t freak out when the gas mask goes on. It makes them fall gently to sleep. But he did give me the option to skip that step and go straight to gas. Thinking the less medicine the better, I said no to the oral stuff. I knew a cousin of Emmett’s had a reverse reaction and became very agitated.

However, that meant either Phil or I had to go back with him to keep him calm when the mask went on. The doctor warned me that he might start breathing really heavy, with his eyes rolling back. He wanted to make sure I could handle it. I quickly elected Phil. I know my limitations and if I had to, I could do it. But I knew Phil would have an easier time keeping calm.

Phil and Fia showed up at 7 and by 7:30 Phil was back there while Emmett went down. He came back shrugging his shoulders. “He’s fine.”

“But how did it go?” I asked.

“Fine,” he said again. Typical guy response. No details.

About 20 minutes after that the little man was in post-op. That’s when things got a bit ugly and I began to doubt my wisdom of skipping the oral sedative.

What the anesthesiologist didn’t tell me was that the oral sedative often allows them to come out of the fog a little more gently. At least that’s what the post-op nurses told me. Instead, Emmett was a mess. He was screaming, writhing his body around, and crying. His legs kept getting caught in the IV and blood pressure tubing and Phil had to mostly take over and just hold him tight, as I kept losing my grasp. Much of the time Em was doing it in a half-sleep daze, with his eyes partially shut. It took the better part of an hour for the gas to wear off enough for me to take him in my arms. I just brushed his hair with my fingertips and sang him into a deep sleep. Then we went home.

Once awake again, he remained agitated and irritable until he had his bottle. Things started getting back to normal then.

Now he is taking his usual afternoon nap and I’m decompressing. I’m so glad this procedure is over with. I’m lucky it was a simple and smooth operation. I can’t imagine having a chronically ill kid. Being at a hospital for children gives you great perspective.

So now he looks like a tough guy. I’ve always said he’s a bruiser. This is proof.

At the risk of freaking myself out, I am asking those of you who have had to put your babies under general anesthesia what to expect. Luckily for Emmett it won’t be for long–maybe 15 minutes. But the thought of him limp on the table could take me to a really dark place. I am trying not to focus on it. Nor do I want to get dramatic for what is to be a very simple, routine surgery.

One friend of mine said to just be prepared that I may lose it unexpectedly. She said she was completely cool leading up to her son’s surgery for tubes in his ears. But as soon as she saw him on the table not moving and being wheeled away she lost it.

The procedure is to open up his clogged tear duct. This thing has taunted us from birth. It’s fairly common–but usually the duct opens on its own before your child turns 1. Emmett’s didn’t. After consulting two different specialists and waiting until he turned 16 months, I threw in the towel and scheduled the procedure. There is a window of time when the surgery is far more likely to open up the duct. I am right in that window. If I wait much longer I could chance him having a leaky eye.

The only risk really involved with this is the general anesthesia. That is the only reason I have put it off this long. I kept hoping it would open on its own. But as it stands now, there is constant goop in the corner of his right eye. He often has tears running down that cheek no matter what mood he is in (which is mostly happy). It hasn’t changed since he was born. I know how sick he is of me constantly cleaning it out. There are some mornings when we wakes up with it gooped shut. Poor guy.

We have an excellent pediatric eye surgeon and it will be done at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. We are scheduled for Monday morning, June 17. I will keep you posted. Also, how long will he be drowsy for afterwards? Surgery is less than 30 minutes. In fact, to open the duct it can be done in 2 minutes. So I think he will only be under for avery short time. Any pointers or insight is much appreciated.

Follow Jill Cordes

Subscribe to Email

Enter your email address to receive a daily digest email of posts from this blog.

Your email:

About The Author

Jill Cordes thought she never wanted kids. But at the age of 39, after too much tequila in Mexico, she and her husband found themselves expecting baby #1. Her daughter, Fia Lily, was born in December 2009, and now Jill freely admits to eating her words. Two years later, after moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and taking another trip across the border, she found herself with baby #2 (apparently she only gets pregnant abroad). Her son, Emmett Redmond, was born in January 2012. Read Full Bio